What Should Have Been
by Azn-Wemo
Summary: It's over. The battle with the Doomsday Group ended. But with a consequence. Leaving half of the flock dead and the other half furious with Max for failing to save their family, life isn't that well. Fang is gone, probably partying with his merry band of mutants and now Max is alone. That is, one familiar dream changes everything.


I know, I know, I should be working on my Percy Jackson and Maximum Ride fics but…inspiration stuck me! *holds hands up in surrender* You guys know the Maximum Ride contest for the last chapter of _Nevermore_, right? Well, I didn't get to send in my chapter so…Fanfiction is my best bet. I hope you guys like it. Oh, and sorry for kiiling off two of the flock members. It _did_ say in the end of the book _Angel_, "Who will die? Would you really think the book would end without anyone dying?" Well, that's what i remember, that is. And don't forget to review ~

**Disclaimer:** Before I forget, I don't own Maximum Ride…

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I'm in that dream, again. Getting chased by those Erasers. _Pant Pant_. I'm breathing heavily, the Erasers snarling loudly behind me, hot on my trail. I see the opening again. I know what's going to happen. Like what happen in the dream four years ago. I skid to a halt, standing on a ledge of a cliff.

"_Max, come here."_

Ari's voice. I turned my head and saw him sneering at me. _WTH?_ I thought I had made amends with him years ago.

My heart beats faster, filled with adrenaline. "Get away from me." I said, voice cracking at the end as I stared at my half-brother with desperation.

"_What's the point, Max? Why fight staying alive when half of your flock hates you and the other half are six feet under?"_

I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists at his words. With the help of Fang's flock, we had defeated the Doomsday Group. The horrible part? Half of my flock didn't survive the aftermath. The rest detached themselves from me and moved on. Fang and his flock were already gone when my flock fell apart. _My flock_. Those words mock me. It left a bittersweet taste in my mouth.

"You shut your mouth," I snarled at him. "You're the one who's supposed to be six feet under."

He cocked an eyebrow. "And more the reason to haunt you in your dreams."

I took a step back as soon as the rest of his pack joined in from the woods. A large gust of wind came and my hair whipped around dramatically. Ah, the dramatics. It does fit in with my current situation.

"_Ta ta_." Ari sang tauntingly before lunging at me.

Before his claws could reach me though, I felt a pair of firm, strong arms encircle around my waist and lift me up. _WTH?_ I watched with wide eyes as Ari threw himself into air and plummet down the cliff. _How many times do I have to watch him die_?

The rest of the Erasers snapped their teeth at me and were about to launch themselves at me when two pairs of familiar wings zoomed by and took them out. My heart stopped beating when I saw them.

"Angel? Gazzy?" My voice cracked.

Angel looked at me angelically with her baby blue eyes as she brushed off the dust that covered her light blue dress. "Hi Max," she chirped with that high-pitched voice of hers. "It's been a long time since I saw you."

I looked at her with wide eyes. What kind of dream is this? Salt on my wounds, people! Angel and Gazzy had died in the last battle and now my conscience wanted to see them to shove in my face that I had failed to save them?

Angel lowered her eyes. "Sorry Max. But I really wanted to see you again. I missed you."

I opened my mouth to respond when Gazzy flew up to my face with a wide grin. "Max! Did you see that? I took out three Erasers by myself!" He said excitedly.

"Gazzy," I said softly.

It's been two years since I had spoken his name out loud.

His grin grew wider. "It was awesome!"

"What?" I asked him, confused.

He continued to go on. "Death was pretty quick," he rambled. "And dying in an explosion? Epic! Then, I woke up and I saw my own funeral! It was cool but you were crying so I was like 'Wait, am I dead or something?' And then Angel came outta nowhere and she bought me to this cool place. I don't know what's it called but it's awesome! You get to do whatever you want and stuff. You get to relive your past memories and get to see what would have happen if you did something different. Angel said it was called alternate universes." His voice grew sad and he looked up at me with pain filled eyes. "But I really missed you Max. Maybe I should've stopped complaining whenever you doused me with water whenever I 'accidentally' set off a bomb with Iggy or pulled those pranks on you."

"Oh, Gazzy," I sniffled, attempting to wipe the tears off my face when I remembered that someone had grabbed my waist and saved my butt.

"Uh, could you unwrap your arms around me, now?" I asked, getting uncomfortable. "I have wings, you know. I could've whipped my wings and flew away. I'm not some damsel in distress."

A low voice chuckled in my ear. "Are you sure? Don't you miss me hugging you?"

My breath caught in my throat as I twisted my body around and met his gaze. "Fang?"

He grinned in a way only he could grin. "Who else? Total?"

I narrowed my eyes at him and pushed myself out of his embrace. "What are you _doing_ here?" I yelled, jabbing an index finger at his chest, the other hand on my hip as I flew away from him. "Why are you in _my_ dream?" I breathed heavily after my outburst. _Who does he think he is, showing up in my dream after ditching me for a clone and a new flock? _I glared at him, shooting daggers.

"Aw, lovers' spat. I wonder what it's like to be in love. I sure want to be. Is it all rainbows and stuff? Max, you're _so_ lucky. Falling in love with your best friend. That's soo sweet and –"

"Nudge?" I asked, looking at the familiar chatterbox in front of me.

"And Iggy," Iggy popped in, his mop of strawberry blonde hair shooting itself above my shoulder.

My wings faltered briefly before flapping harder. Nudge and Iggy had left me after Gazzy and Angel had died. What are they doing here?

"It's your dream, silly," Nudge giggled as she zoomed to my other side with a pearly smile. "Your conscience is showing you what your deepest desires are."

Iggy smirked. "I never knew you missed me _that_ much. I always knew you had feelings for me." He finished with a flip of his hair.

I rolled my eyes. "_Sure_. Keep on dreaming, Mr. Ego." I turned to Fang with a murderous expression written all over my face. "And why are _you_ here, again?" I demanded, crossing my arms.

He shrugged and jerked his head towards Nudge's direction. "What she said. Your conscience is showing you what you want. I'm just here because apparently, you still haven't moved on."

I felt my heart sink to the bottom of my stomach. Angel and Gazzy are still dead. I'm never going to see them again. Nudge and Iggy are still mad at me for failing to save the youngest members of the flock. And Fang was still with his merry band of teenaged mutants. This is just a dream. My eyesight was starting to get blurry.

Fang furrowed his eyebrows worriedly and flew closer to me. "Hey, don't cry. What happened to the 'Butt-kicking-Max-who-never-shed-a-tear-in-her-life-because-that's-not-manly?"

I shot him a glare. "Since when did you start talking, Mr. Rockhead?"

"Ever since I appeared in your dream," he answered smoothly. "And I'm not a rock head. I don't eat rocks." A thoughtful expression flitted across his stoic face. "Well, not after that incident with the man-eating monkeys at the School."

Angel flittered over and hugged my waist, burrowing her head into the side of my jeans. "Max, your Voice just wants to you let go. He doesn't want you to hurt no more. So he," she wrinkled her nose, "I think he bought me and Gazzy from wherever we are and led us here. I don't know about Nudge, Iggy and Fang, though."

I looked at Iggy who was flying by my side. He looked at me with his sightless eyes as if he could tell I was looking at him. "What?" He asked. "All I know is –"

Nudge jumped in. "Some creepy voice brought our conscience here and stuff. So that means, you're actually talking to us, just our minds. We're not actually here, physically. When we wake up," Nudge looked at me with a determined expression, "we'll find you, Max. It's just been hard living when Angel and Gazzy had died. I didn't mean to hurt you, Max. Honest." She looked at me pleadingly.

I ruffled her hair which made her pout and glare at me mockingly. I turned to Fang. "And what about you?" I asked.

Fang scratched the back of his neck, uncomfortable. "I missed you," he admitted quietly. He met my gaze. "So when your Voice talked to me while I was sleeping, he sort of told me that I have a chance to see you."

I said suspiciously, "What's the catch?"

He looked down. "To go find you. To ditch my flock." He flew closer to me. "I acted like an idiot, didn't I?" He asked.

I raised an eyebrow. "Do you even need to ask?" I leaned closer to his dark eyes and . . . gave him a roundhouse kick.

Fang regained his balance in the air, still flapping his wings that were probably around nineteen feet long. He gave me a smirk and returned the gesture. Iggy was flapping in the air while Gazzy was explaining to him what was happening while Angel and Nudge were hugging each other while trying to pay attention to what was happening between Fang and me.

I grunted after he clocked a heavy punch on my back and he plummeted down after I tackled him and gave a kick to his, er, _soft spot._ He zoomed back up with lightning speed and gripped my shoulders before putting me in a head lock. "You're out of shape, Max. Even in your dream I can still beat you."

"You –" I was cut off before I could finish my sentence.

Fang somehow lost balance and fell on my lips – that is, that's what I was hoping what had happened.

"Mmmph!" Was my shocked answer.

He pulled away from me and gave a rare smile. "Do I still have it?"

I breathed heavily and quipped, "Nah, old age is getting to you. Sorry to disappoint, but I could've sworn your lips were cracked and wrinkly. I don't dig old guys."

Fang wrinkled his nose in disgust. Nudge and Angel were giggling while the boys were leaning on each other as they cracked up.

I looked around at my flock. "So what are we going to do now?" I questioned them.

Iggy gave me a confused look. "Are you losing your leader skills or what? Asking us what to do? Losing your leader-ing skills." He sang.

I felt Angel grab my hand and I looked down at her. "I want to spend time with you before you wake up, Max."

I felt my cold heart melt at her words. "Of course, sweetie."

And with that, we flew in the same formation that we used to fly many years before. Before the Doomsday Group, before "Mom" betrayed us, before Fang had replaced us, before Dylan came and ruin our lives and before we had the CSM. Right when I was just fourteen and busted Angel out of the School. And as we flew towards the sunset as a flock for the last time, I looked at Fang with a smile, who returned it.

My last thought?

_This was supposed to happen. Just the six of us and no one else. _

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**So…you like it? Tell it in a review, please. I made this while I'm stuck in bed, sick. And since I'm sick, my mind is kind of foggy so please don't flame. Try not to be mean, kay? Anyways, this was made possible by **Azn-Wemo Productions©


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